The city of Boulder is considering what its energy future will look like. The goal it to acquire "clean, local and reliable" energy in the future, and one voter-approved option is to start a municipal utility. For more information on the history of this decision, click here.

TV blitz: Campaigns, PACs spent $41M on 35,225 ads in Colorado

Contracts show Obama outspent Romney by more than $4M

By CU News Corps

Posted:
11/20/2012 02:55:45 PM MST

Updated:
11/20/2012 03:00:20 PM MST

President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney wave to the audience at the start of the presidential debate Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at the University of Denver. (The Denver Post)

Campaign TV buys

Largest single contracts: Obama for American paid $557,225 for 770 ads to run on KMGH between Oct. 2 and Nov. 6. The Romney campaign paid $407,620 for 199 ads on KCNC between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6.

Top station: KUSA contracted for more than $15 million of the advertising haul, most likely because of the station's top ranking for local news and Sunday night football games. KCNC came in second with $10.6 million, reflecting the station's Sunday Broncos coverage. KMGH contracted for $9.6 million, while KDVR, the Fox affiliate, contracted for $5.5 million.

Most expensive ads: A two-minute, $104,000 spot by Obama before the Sept. 30 Broncos game on KCNC. The Republican National Committee spent $55,000 on a 30-second spot advocating for Romney during the Nov. 4 Broncos game on KCNC.

A single ad: Women Speak Out PAC spent $24,000 on a single, one-minute ad opposing Obama and abortion on KUSA before the Oct. 3 presidential debate.

Almost $41 million and enough TV ads to fill more than 12 days of airtime, 24 hours a day.

That's the political advertising tally at Denver's top four TV stations based on contracts filed between Aug. 2 and Nov. 14. The CU News Corps collected data on the contracts filed with the Federal Communications Commission and analyzed them throughout the fall campaign.

President Barack Obama's election victory in Colorado reflected a dominance of the airwaves in the Denver market as well.

In the end, Obama's campaign contracted for $10.3 million and 10,616 ads starting Aug. 2, compared with GOP opponent Mitt Romney's $6.1 million and 4,848 ads.

Super PACs supporting Romney narrowed the ad difference, with five spending almost $7.7 million on Denver ads, compared with three Democratic-leaning groups spending $3.9 million on Obama's behalf.

2012 set a record for the total number of political ads aired, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which used privately collected data to examine ad spending nationally. Denver ranked as one of the top markets for presidential ad spending nationally.

Super PAC ad spending potentially kept Romney and other Republican candidates competitive, said Michael Franz, co-director for the Wesleyan Media Project and a political science professor at Bowdoin College.

"They didn't really win anything that they were hoping to win," Franz said of the GOP super PACs. "We don't know what the races would have looked like if those ads were not on the air."

Obama's buy-early tactic also may have been a factor.

By early September, the Obama camp had scheduled ads every week through Election Day, while the Romney campaign made week-to-week buys. That strategy proved economical, with the Obama campaign paying $969 on average for spots compared with an average of $1,251 for the Romney campaign.

"The Romney campaign going from week-to-week, it allowed them to be a bit more nimble, but it also meant that their dollars didn't go as far," Franz said.

The economy turned out to be a reliable predictor of the election outcome, said Seth Masket, a University of Denver associate professor of political science.

"That doesn't mean that the ads didn't matter, though," Masket wrote in an e-mail. "Ads are designed to get people to think about the economy, or other issues, in certain ways, and they get voters to use their feelings about the economy when they cast their votes."

For many viewers, however, the onslaught of political ads didn't make a huge difference.

"This year's political ads made me sad and frustrated," said Joan Ringle, a Denver resident who voted for Obama. "They have no effect on my choices. I wish we as voters made our choices on policy substance rather than talking points that at best are an exaggeration and at worst (are) lies."

Franz said the election outcome might motivate conservative donors to look at alternative ways to spend their money in the future.

"One of the things that will probably be reconsidered is whether or not it's worth spending money on other types of electioneering, whether it is ground mobilization, peer-to-peer contact, Internet outreach, things that are cheaper, things that the research suggests might have longer term effects," Franz said.

The CU News Corps is a class in Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Colorado aimed at providing student-produced news stories to Colorado and national media outlets. The Public Insight Network was used to find sources for this story; the University of Colorado Journalism & Mass Communication program is an academic partner of PIN, which is operated by American Public Media.

Ballot language:
In November, Boulder voters narrowly approved two ballot issues related to starting a municipal utility: 2B and 2C. You can read the full text of the ballot language on the city's website.

Issue 2B asked voters to increase the existing utility occupation tax by up to $1.9 million a year. The money from the tax, which will be collected from customers by Xcel Energy, will be used by the city to cover the costs of moving forward with forming a municipal utility, such as more studies and legal fees.

Issue 2C asked voters for permission to actually form a municipal utility. The language allows the city to sell the necessary bonds to take over the current system from Xcel, but it states that the city may only move forward with forming a municipal utility if it can start the utility with rates that are the same or cheaper than Xcel's.

Helpful Links:City of Boulder: This is where the city is aggregating all of its documents, meeting information and updates on Boulder s energy future: bouldercolorado.gov/energyfuture

RenewablesYes: This website is run by the group of volunteers that lobbied local voters to pass a utility occupation tax in November to replace the expiring franchise fee from Xcel Energy. Now, the group is advocating for the city to secure a cleaner, more local energy supply. renewablesyes.org

Xcel Energy: Xcel is the largest utility in Colorado, and it currently provides electricity to Boulder. The city s 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel expired at the end of 2010. xcelenergy.com

Boulder Smart Energy Coalition: A citizen group that supports the city's general energy goals but has concerns about the risks involved with starting a municipal utility. bouldersec.com

SmartGridCity: Xcel Energy has installed a smart grid in Boulder. This web site provides more information on that initiative. smartgridcity.xcelenergy.com

Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities: This Colorado Springs-based group represents the state s 29 municipal utilities, which include utilities based in Lyons and Longmont. coloradopublicpower.org